Racquet sports such as tennis, racquetball and squash have become extremely popular throughout the world over the past few decades. All three of these sports are played with a racquet generally having a handle, a frame and strings interwoven through the frame to form a playing surface. The players direct a ball, different for each sport, to a desired location by striking the ball with the playing surface of the racquet formed by the strings.
The power and control of a given racquet are dependent on many factors, including the size, weight and shape of the racquet, the materials from which the racquet and strings are made, and the tension of the strings in the racquet frame. It is naturally desirable to optimize both power and control, but one problem with racquet development is that racquet and string configurations which optimize power often sacrifice control, and vice-versa.
Generally speaking, there is a particular area on every racquet, usually near and surrounding the center, in which it is desirable to hit the ball for maximum power and control. This area is known as the "sweet spot." The location and shape of the sweet spot varies with racquet shape and design, but is desirable on all racquets to have a sweet spot that is as large as possible.
Another problem with sports racquets generally is that the force of the ball striking the strings causes a vibration in the racquet frame, particularly when the ball strikes the playing surface outside of the sweet spot. This vibration is transferred from the racquet frame to the arm of the person using the racquet. Extended play often causes serious health problems, particularly to the elbow of the playing arm because of the vibration just described. Among tennis players, this condition is commonly known as "tennis elbow."
Various attempts have been made to both improve playability of sports racquets and lessen the vibration that is transferred to the player's arm upon contact of the racquet with the ball, particularly when the ball strikes outside of the sweet spot. For example, materials have been placed between the outer edge of the racquet frame and the strings to dampen vibration. These arrangements are not particularly effective, however, because these materials are in a fixed position relative to the frame and the strings when the racquet is being used. Thus, vibration is transferred directly from the strings, through the intermediate materials, to the racquet frame, and then to the player's arm. Designs have also been developed that permit the tension of each string to be adjusted individually, purportedly allowing the playability of a racquet to be tailored to each player. This design, however, has the disadvantage of being cumbersome to implement, since the precise effect of adjusting each string is difficult to determine, and because each string must be constantly adjusted to maintain the desired tension profile. Additionally, racquet stringers are adverse to using many individual strings to string a racquet, since the usual procedure is to weave a single string through the racquet frame to form the playing surface.
What is needed, therefore, .[.an.]. .Iadd.is .Iaddend.an inexpensive and simple design for a sports racquet with an expanded sweet spot that provides improved power and control and lessens the vibration to the player's arm caused by impact of the strings with the ball. The racquet of the present invention satisfies these needs and provides other related advantages.